Many times when I'm looking for a new manga to read, my decision to read something I've never heard of is based off the first image I see of the series. So when I see something with pretty interesting art or premise, I will check it out. This is how I found Binbogami Ga (or Good Luck Girl in the US) and I'm glad I did because Binbogami Ga is probably one of the funniest manga's I've come across.

Binbogami Ga follows Sakura Ichiko, a girl born with a great amount of luck, whose daily life is interrupted when a binbogami, Momiji, is tasked with removing Ichiko's excess luck. What follows is a very competent and funny series about Ichiko trying to go through her daily life, while having a wily coyote-esque person hounding her through out her daily life.

The Characters

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Binbogami Ga has a knack for writing fun, yet one-dimensional characters. It's just a blast to see every character interact with each other because they're all kind of jerks in their own way. What this means is that each character tends to act in a way that would benefit them the most despite tone of the scene at hand. This is so great because each character will turn a normal like scene into a very funny funny one.

On the other hand, many of the characters in the series tend to fit some stereotype. For instance, there's the pervert side character stereotype, the action girl with a soft spot, the masochist, the clown, the ineffectual boss, and a few other stereotypes. Though all of these characters are funny because they're put into many funny situations, they don't evolve beyond their stereotype. The only exception to this is Ichiko who starts out as a humongous jerk, but through out the series develops into a better person.

The Art

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On the surface, the art of binbogami ga doesn't seem that special, but it has a good mix of detailed and simple drawings that enhance the humor in the manga. What I mean is that most of the time, the series is drawn in a semi realistic manner with well-detailed characters and environments. So when the series switches to the more cartoon like art, it feels like realistic characters are making comical faces.

The Writing

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Binbogami Ga is probably one of the most intelligently written comedy mangas I have ever read. It knows how use many tropes used in media and then turn them n their head for comedic affect. Also, this manga has a good amount of self awareness that makes any of the tropes it uses incredibly funny because it often mocks the trope for it's absurdity, while keeping the characters in character. By keeping the characters in character while performing these comedic subversions of tropes, it allows for a smooth story, which weaves action and characterization into each other.

The Humor

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I could not stop laughing when I read this manga. The humor was just so amazing because it had amazing timing when telling a joke. What makes each humor so good is the manga sets up a situation where it seems like the scene will go one way and then some slap stick happens and completely changes the situation to something much more entertaining. Also, special mention has to go to some of the references in the show because usually when this show references another series, it mimics the art of the thing it's parodying and it's just so funny.

Binbogami Ga is absolutely amazing. The writing through the series is exceptionally good because it breaks the mold of many tropes with slap stick, it weaves character development into its action. The characters are fun to watch interacting and arguing with each other even though they are a tad one dimensional.

You can find Binbogami Ga
here. Also you can find the anime adaptation here.